Saturday, December 3, 2011

Angels > Pokemon

I spent this past week rewatching Angelic Layer with my Mom and my kids. My Mom had never seen it before, and it'd been a while since the rest of us had seen it. Angelic Layer may not be one of Clamp's more spectacular works, but it was cute. Of course, as an avid cosplayer, I have to say that one of the strongest draws this series has for me is the wide variety of costume designs.

For those who have not seen Angelic Layer, the series is about a girl, Misaki Suzuhara, who moves to Tokyo and starts playing a game called Angelic Layer. The game involves customizing an Angel doll, which when placed a special surface called a Layer can be moved. The player wears a special helmet that transmits their thoughts to the doll and the doll moves accordingly. The idea is that what an Angel can do is limited only by the player's will and imagination. The plot follows Misaki as she progresses through the big Angelic Layer tournament. There is some family drama mixed in with all this, but I won't go into detail here since that would give away the bulk of the plot--Angelic Layer isn't all that complicated a series.

One thing that I noticed on this go-around with Angelic Layer is that it's a lot like Pokemon--I'm sure there are other series like this too, but it's not really the kind of thing I usually watch. =P In Angelic Layer you challenge other players, similar to how Pokemon trainers will challenge each other; the players' Angels fight each other, kind of like Pokemon fight each other for the trainers. I think Angelic Layer is better than Pokemon, or at the very least, I think, given the choice, I'd prefer to play Angelic Layer over going on my very own Pokemon journey. XD One of the biggest reasons why I prefer Angelic Layer is that Angelic Layer ended. Pokemon doesn't seem to ever die. XD That makes my kids happy, but after a while, I do wonder how much longer they can honestly drag it out. For another, Angels are kind of like Ball-Joint-Dolls, only cooler--they're slightly more customizable for body type and they can move and fight while in the Layer. This means, though, that you can dress the Angels up in all kinds of neat outfits or make your own clothes for the doll. As a cosplayer, that aspect definitely appeals to me. Finally, as an added bonus, you don't ever have to feed your Angel or really worry about ever offending it or anything, since, you know, it's not a living thing. =P

Here are screenshots of my two favorite Angels, Ranga and Wizard. For those of you who've seen Angelic Layer, which Angel did you like best?